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I'm trying to help my parents convert to HDTV, but want to keep costs down as much as possible.The house is currently powered off of a SD DVR that runs coax to 2 tv's. We are out of contract (>2 years), and have several other services with AT&T (wireless, 2 land lines, and DSL).

What are our options for powering 3 TV's with HD? (Prefer DVR, but willing to drop it if it saves significant cost).

From their website and chat, here are the options if I understand them correctly.

Option 1: Hopper + 2 Joeys---------------------------This seems like the best option, but also the most expensive. I believe we were quoted:$100 one time fee for the hopper$50 professional setup fee+$10 per month for HD programming (WTF? free for new customers)+$10 for the hopper+$14 for 2 joeys

As you can see, this is damn expensive. We're no longer under contract though, so I wonder if they could do any better

Option 2: Use the solo receivers-------------------------------I think this mostly saves us the cost of setup and the $100 one time fee.$0 one time fee$0 setup fee (DIY)+$10 per month for HD programming (WTF? free for new customers)+$10 for the SoloDVR612+$14 for 2 Solo VIP's

TV1: SoloDVR ViP 612 (will the other tv's be able to use the DVR features of this or no?)TV2 and TV3: Solo ViP® 211k

Any other ways I could do this cheaper? I've tried to research this as much as I can, but the online chat support at Dish is miserable. They barely speak english and I have repeat questions 5 times.

The fees in red above are the ones that I find particularly troubling.

In your second option, no. The ViP 211ks can't see the 612, nor do they see each other. Your numbers are off:

1. Free HD for Life requires either autopay and paperless billing with a 24-month commitment, or a one-time fee of $99. Obviously pays for itself after 10 months.
2. DVR fee for the 612 is $7 a month. 211k's can be converted to DVRs with an external hard drive for a single charge of $40, accountwide.
3. Hopper setup will be about $100 for a Hopper+1 or 2 Joeys only if you re-up for 2 years. If you activate the protection plan before you call for the upgrade the truck roll is $15, not $100.

"Belligerent and numerous."

SlingTV, Tablo and Plex to Roku 3s and Chromecasts on a Vizio 42" in the living room and a Toshiba 32" in my bedroom. Xbox 360 client on a Westinghouse 42" in the game room. Tablets EVERYWHERE!

Also in Option #2, first 612 $10 receiver fee is covered under the subscription package so your receiver fee would be the 2 211's, although there would be a $7 dvr fee so you are only off by $3. You could add an EHD ($40 one time fee for all your 211's that you could move to all 3 211's) and have 3 211's and remove the dvr fee completely. On Option #1, the $10 is a dvr fee for the account.

3 612 DVR's+$10 per month HD fee+$7 per month DVR service$0 for the first 612$14 for the next 2 612's? (or $20, not sure on this)

If I used 3 211's + 3 external hard drives, that's $120 up front. If the 2 612's only cost and additional $6 per month ($10 vs $7), then it would take 20 months to breakeven.

Does this look right? Could you clarify the cost of the 612's?

1st 612 would be free,2nd and 3rd 612 $10 each$7 dvrIf you go with 211's 1st would be free, each additional would be $7 and no dvr fee, EHD fee for 211 would be $40 per account not each.Not sure where you figures come from or what you are comparing too.You would need to talk to csr or PM a DIRT member to figure out your upgrade fees.

[quote name='Yankee'][quote name='ls1dreams']Thanks for the replies. This is confusing.

Ok, so now I think my best options is:

3 612 DVR's+$10 per month HD fee+$7 per month DVR service$0 for the first 612$14 for the next 2 612's? (or $20, not sure on this)

I think you best option would be the Hopper and joey set up

Monthly fees

Hopper is free2nd joey $7.003rd joey $7.00Hd $10.00 month ( would do auto pay to get it free or pay the $99.00 one time fee)DVR fee is $10.00[/QUOTE]2 612's should be $20 ($10 each).You won't be able to do the $99 one time fee for HD for Life starting Thursday. That is being discontinued.

I am in a similar predicament. I have three HD TVs but I have determined that the best course for me financially is to just have HD on the main family TV and deal with SD on the others (HD is just too expensive). I think I need to have Dish swap out my Duo 625 for a 722K but I am not OK with giving them money to do that. I have paid for the protection plan for years and never had to use it and I have always paid them on time with no complaints. I do Autopay, paperless billing, and all of that stuff so surely they can just swap out one receiver at no cost. I don't want to switch providers but this could be something that forces me to do that.

I am in a similar predicament. I have three HD TVs but I have determined that the best course for me financially is to just have HD on the main family TV and deal with SD on the others (HD is just too expensive). I think I need to have Dish swap out my Duo 625 for a 722K but I am not OK with giving them money to do that. I have paid for the protection plan for years and never had to use it and I have always paid them on time with no complaints. I do Autopay, paperless billing, and all of that stuff so surely they can just swap out one receiver at no cost. I don't want to switch providers but this could be something that forces me to do that.

What about having an HD Duo (possibly a 222) and a 211 to save on monthly equipment costs? That would give you 2 HD feeds (preferably on the TVs you watch most) and 1 SD feed (with the ability to still see the HD only channels in 480i). The HD Duo would be $0.00/month (since it is in the base price), and the HD Solo would be $7.00/month. This would be a grand total of $7.00/month in equipment fees.

In addition, you can optionally turn that 211 into a DVR with a one-time $40 fee and an external hard drive. There is no monthly DVR fee for the 211.

Also in Option #2, first 612 $10 receiver fee is covered under the subscription package so your receiver fee would be the 2 211's, although there would be a $7 dvr fee so you are only off by $3. You could add an EHD ($40 one time fee for all your 211's that you could move to all 3 211's) and have 3 211's and remove the dvr fee completely. On Option #1, the $10 is a dvr fee for the account.

If three HDTV feeds are wanted along with DVR, then I also think the cheapest solution would be 3 211s with the one-time DVR integration fee of $40.00 and the price of external hard drives (unless some are just lying around).

The first 211 would be $0.00/month. The other 2 211s would be $7/month each. That would be $14/month in equipment fees.

A family member actually pays $14/month. She has 2 211s but also has a 222 HD Duo (1 HD and 1 SD feed). She could turn the 2 211s into DVRs. You cannot do that with the 222 HD Duo. However, there is no monthly DVR fee this way.

I have a cheaper solution in the post above. However, it is for 2 HD feeds with one DVR and 1 SD feed for $7/month in equipment fees.

I am in a similar predicament. I have three HD TVs but I have determined that the best course for me financially is to just have HD on the main family TV and deal with SD on the others (HD is just too expensive). I think I need to have Dish swap out my Duo 625 for a 722K but I am not OK with giving them money to do that. I have paid for the protection plan for years and never had to use it and I have always paid them on time with no complaints. I do Autopay, paperless billing, and all of that stuff so surely they can just swap out one receiver at no cost. I don't want to switch providers but this could be something that forces me to do that.

Just wanted to say that after a chat with Dish online, they hooked me up with what I needed at no cost. I do have the dish protection plan so that may have been a good part of why it worked out that way.

Perhaps I am in the same boat. Just a retiree trying to save some money. The big room HDTV is with a VIP722K. The bedroom SD TV was with a 2700 (anyone remember them?) from 2000. The old Sony Trinitron just died. OK, I hooked up the 2700 to a new Samsung 32" TV but I would like to go HD. Any suggestions to keep the costs down (preferably at least the same)?

Perhaps I am in the same boat. Just a retiree trying to save some money. The big room HDTV is with a VIP722K. The bedroom SD TV was with a 2700 (anyone remember them?) from 2000. The old Sony Trinitron just died. OK, I hooked up the 2700 to a new Samsung 32" TV but I would like to go HD. Any suggestions to keep the costs down (preferably at least the same)?

Here's what I'm doing to keep the costs down with 2 TVs and a 722: Each TV has an SD and HD link to it (HD via HDMI to the nearby TV, and component over cat5 to the one further away). Either TV can use the HD feed, just one at a time, and the other is stuck with SD. The biggest drawback is with the SD feed not sending out a proper 16:9 picture.

Here's what I'm doing to keep the costs down with 2 TVs and a 722: Each TV has an SD and HD link to it (HD via HDMI to the nearby TV, and component over cat5 to the one further away). Either TV can use the HD feed, just one at a time, and the other is stuck with SD. The biggest drawback is with the SD feed not sending out a proper 16:9 picture.

Yes - what you should get is a Letterboxed image of the 16:9 image inside the 4:3 . At least some HDTVs will let you zoom this up to fill the 16:9 screen - mine will, anyway.

Perhaps I am in the same boat. Just a retiree trying to save some money. The big room HDTV is with a VIP722K. The bedroom SD TV was with a 2700 (anyone remember them?) from 2000. The old Sony Trinitron just died. OK, I hooked up the 2700 to a new Samsung 32" TV but I would like to go HD. Any suggestions to keep the costs down (preferably at least the same)?

John

My decision was to drop the use of a Dish Network receiver in the bedroom and just hook the new TV to the OTA antenna. The bedroom TV mainly gets used for evening/bedtime news broadcasts, SNL, Jay Leno, etc. Lots of channels where we live. Thanks for the suggestions.